All's Fair in Love and War
by xiao chan
Summary: AU: The year was 1945. In times like these, you never know when something could come along and change your life. In my case, I broke the rules. I fell in love. Literati
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue, I no own, so you no sue.**

**Chapter 1**

"Rory, we have incoming!"

The nurse whipped her head around and ran to the entrance of the tiny field hospital, ready and willing to lend a hand wherever she could. "Dr. Hamilton? Where do you need me?"

"Hold on," he told her as he turned his attention to the influx of wounded soldiers. "Emily, Beatrice! Get your asses over here now!"

One of the soldiers stumbled forward and Rory rushed to catch him before he fell. "Here," she gasped as she tossed his arm around her shoulder. "Can you walk?"

"Barely," the soldier rasped in reply. She helped him straighten a little and led him to the nearest empty bed.

As she helped him onto the clean white sheets, she assessed the damage. There was a bullet lodged in the back of his right knee and several other wounds and gashes on his body, undoubtedly caused by one of the numerous explosions she heard resounding through the night.

The first thing she had to do was to see if the bullet did a lot of damage. Luckily it was a shallow wound, so she could get it out without having to amputate the limb. "Here," she told the soldier as she handed him a wad of cloth. "Stick this in your mouth."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because it's going to hurt when I take the bullet out and I don't want you biting your tongue off," she told him.

The soldier took the wad of cloth she handed to him and shoved it in his mouth, bracing himself for the promised pain. Rory took a pair of forceps and extracted the bullet out of the wound as gently as she could. The soldier let out a scream of pain, but Rory ignored it. As soon as the bullet was out, she grabbed a wad of gauze and pressed it firmly against the wound. When the bleeding slowed down to a trickle, she cleaned the wound and stitched it closed. Then she turned her attention to the rest of him.

When the soldier realized that he was through the worst of it, he slowly extracted his gag. "God, that hurt."

"Well if you didn't get shot, I wouldn't have had to take the bullet out," Rory murmured as she cleaned the cut on his arm.

The soldier rolled his eyes. "It's a little difficult to not get shot when you're caught in crossfire."

"And it's a little difficult to clean this wound when you keep moving your arm," Rory chided as she wiped the disinfectant across the gash. "So please shut up."

"You're a mean nurse," he whined. "The nurses in London weren't this mean."

"Yes, well the nurses in London don't know their ass from their esophagus," retorted Rory with a quick eye roll.

"Hey, I survived their care, didn't I?"

"And I still can't believe it."

"You're a snarky one, aren't you?"

"Only when provoked."

"Am I provoking you?"

"Not yet."

"How about now?"

"Are you trying to make yourself a nuisance on purpose?"

"How about now?"

Rory let out a huff of breath. "May I remind you, sir, that I am the one with the surgical tools and the needles. I can make this a lot more painful than necessary. Is that really what you want?"

"Jess," he replied.

Rory looked up in surprise. "What?"

"Jess," the soldier repeated. "My name is Jess."

"Well then, _Jess_, shut up and let me stitch this wound closed."

Jess pouted. "Like I said. Snarky."

Rory looked up and glared at him. "I can get a lot snarkier. And I have a needle."

"You're not allowed to cause pain," he said. "You know, Hippocratic Oath and all that."

"I'm not a doctor," she replied simply as she sterilized the needle.

Later that night, as the rest of the soldiers were snoozing peacefully, Jess was still wide awake and completely bored. He glanced over at one of the other beds and saw the nurse that took care of him earlier sitting by the entrance of the hospital, reading a book by the dim lamplight.

"Hey," he called to her in a stage whisper, "whatcha reading?"

Rory glanced up. "Jess," she hissed as she rushed to his bedside. "You are supposed to be asleep."

"I can't sleep," he said simply. "I'm bored. Why don't you entertain me?"

"No," she hissed. She checked the dressing on his wounds and saw that they didn't need to be changed yet. Then she glared at him. "Go to sleep."

"I can't."

"You know, for a soldier, you sure do whine a lot."

He grimaced. "I do not whine."

"Go to sleep."

"You didn't answer my question."

"What?"

"You didn't answer my question. What are you reading?"

She rolled her beautiful blue eyes for the millionth time that day. Jess got the distinct feeling that he was the only one that could evoke this kind of reaction from her. Or at least, he was the only one that did. "I'm reading _Wuthering Heights_. Now will you go to sleep?"

"Are you now? I happen to love that book."

Rory was a little surprised. "You do?"

He smiled and shook his head. "Nah. Never read it, never got the chance. However, if you _lent_ it to me…"

"But _I'm_ reading it," she pointed out.

"So?"

"So we can't _both_ read it."

"How about you read it to me?"

"What?"

"I said, 'how about you read it to me'. I'm assuming you know how to read, I saw you doing it earlier."

"I know how to read," she snapped.

"Good. Reading out loud is the same basic concept, except you say the words instead of just acknowledging their meaning in your head."

"I find it strangely ironic that you're insulting _my_ intelligence when _you_ were the one that got shot."

"Hey, intelligence has nothing to do with getting shot on a _battlefield_ in the middle of a _war_," he scoffed. "Like I said, there wasn't much I could do to avoid it."

Rory sighed. "If I read it to you, will you go to sleep?"

He nodded.

"Fine." She turned around to retrieve her book and her lamp. When she returned, she adjusted the chair sitting at the side of his bed so that it was facing him.

"Start from the beginning."

Rory's mouth dropped open. "What? I'm right in the middle of the story, I can't start over again!"

"But if you read from where you left off, then I won't understand what's going on."

"I'm not starting it from the beginning!"

"Then I'm not going to sleep. I'm gonna stay awake all night. And I just might be bored enough to want to wake some of my fellow soldiers for entertainment."

"You are impossible."

Jess grinned widely and Rory begrudgingly admitted to herself that he was a handsome soldier. Annoying, but handsome nonetheless. "Fine. _One chapter_ and you are going to bed."

"Deal."

Rory turned to the first page and began to read aloud.

"Aw come on, you have to read slower than that."

"Jess," she said exasperatedly, "you don't get to pick the reading speed."

"But I can't understand a word you're saying."

"That's your problem. You need to pay attention."

"I am paying attention!"

Rory was starting to see that this conversation wasn't getting them anywhere, so she let out an impatient breath and slowed down so that he could understand. When the first chapter ended, she closed the book and set it in her lap. "Okay. _Now_ you have to go to sleep."

He pouted. "One more chapter?"

"No," she said firmly as she got up and pulled the covers tightly around him. "I have to be getting to sleep pretty soon myself, and I can't sleep if you don't."

Jess cocked his head to the side in curiosity. "You mean you're not supposed to stay up?"

She shook her head.

"Then why do you?"

"Some of the soldiers get nightmares," she replied simply.

Jess didn't say anything. He knew the nightmares as well as any of the men in this room. He'd been living with them for three years.

"So now would you do me the favor of going to sleep?"

"What if I get nightmares?"

Rory sighed. "I'll stay up for a little while, just until you fall asleep."

"Wait. I never got your name."

"What?"

"I told you my name. You never told me yours."

She raised her eyebrows. "What are you going to do with my name?"

Jess rolled his eyes. "Use it."

She shook her head. "My name is Rory. Not that it matters, but it's short for Lorelai. Now enough questions. Your body is not going to get better if you don't go to sleep."

"Rory," he mused aloud, turning over the strange name in his mind. "Rory…it suits you."

She looked up and made the mistake of looking him in his chocolate brown eyes. Something unspoken, but powerful passed between the two of them when blue met brown.

"Goodnight, Rory."

"Goodnight, Jess."

**A/N - Reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - Wow you guys. I am absolutely _stunned_ by all the positive feedback I got from the first chapter. I love it, so keep it coming.**

**Chapter 2**

"Hey, Rory," Beatrice said by way of morning greeting. "Who's that soldier? The one over there by the entrance. The one with all the hair."

Rory glanced in the direction Beatrice was pointing. "Oh. That's Jess. Why?"

Her companion sighed. "He's so handsome. Don't you think so?"

Rory fixed her with a withering stare. "Beatrice, no. You know better than that."

Beatrice's eyes widened. "What? What are you talking about?"

"You can't get attached," Rory reminded her as she sorted the shipment of medical supplies they received a few days ago. "It's not allowed."

"I'm not getting attached," insisted Beatrice. "I'm just admiring his beauty."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Well while you're admiring his beauty, go check his wounds, see if the dressings need to be changed. Do something productive."

Beatrice gave a sharp intake of breath. "Oh my gosh, what do I say to him?"

Rory couldn't believe it. Beatrice wasn't usually this useless. In fact, she was one of the best nurses at St. James, so seeing her anxious around a patient was very rare indeed. "How about hello?"

Meanwhile, Jess was playing with a deck of cards from his pocket that had miraculously escaped the carnage of the battlefield relatively unscathed. He looked up when he heard a pair of feet shuffling towards him and felt a sharp stab of disappointment when it wasn't Rory.

"Hello," the nurse said a little nervously. Jess studied her closely and deemed her a hopeless case: her nose was too big, her eyes were too close together, and she had a double chin. Here stood before him a perpetual bachelorette and an eventual old maid. When he didn't say anything in reply, she said very tentatively, "I'm Beatrice. Is there anything I can get you?"

Jess nodded. "Yeah. You can get me Rory."

He pretended like he didn't notice the hurt that flashed across her homely features. It wasn't difficult, since a moment afterwards, she was laughing a little. "Of course. I'm not really surprised."

"What?" Jess asked.

Beatrice just shrugged as she checked his dressings. "Everyone wants Rory to take care of them. You know, Dr. Hamilton didn't even want her to be a nurse here, but we were short handed and she works really well under pressure."

Jess cocked his head to the side in curiosity. "Why didn't Dr. Hamilton want her here?"

"Because she's too pretty," Beatrice said simply. "Dr. Hamilton thought that she would be a distraction to the soldiers, but he gave in when he realized that she was really good. And now he can't get rid of her because she's practically indispensible. She's the most popular too."

He detected the hint of bitterness in Beatrice's voice, but didn't comment on it. Instead, he thought carefully on her words. There was no doubt whatsoever that Rory was a beautiful girl, with her wavy, dark brown hair, crystal clear blue eyes, and delicate bone structure. But that wasn't the reason he wanted her taking care of him. No, he liked watching her angrily tuck that shiny brown hair behind her ears in frustration as her aquamarine irises flashed in annoyance at his goading.

Minutes later, Beatrice left to whisper a few words into Rory's ear. The latter turned to look at Jess, who quickly turned his attention back to his cards, and this time, he didn't look up when he heard a pair of shuffling feet.

"Jess, Beatrice is just as qualified as I am," Rory informed him with no preamble.

"I never said she wasn't," Jess said innocently. "I just like it better when you take care of me."

She rolled her eyes. "Why is that?"

"I like annoying you. Your reactions are very cute."

"Keep at it and I'll be the equivalent of a puppy litter in a few moments," she grumbled as she retrieved some gauze from the medical supply shelves.

Jess grinned widely. "Had anyone ever told you that your nostrils flare when you get annoyed?"

Rory's hands flew up to cover her nose. Then she growled in frustration. "You are absolutely impossible!" she cried.

"Rory, is that guy bothering you?" the soldier in the bed right next to Jess' asked.

"Who's bothering Rory?" one of the soldiers on the other side of the room called. "Logan, who's bothering Rory?"

"Whoever it is, you'd better stop," a cockney accent announced. "I don't care if my leg's broken, I'll get out of this bed and kick your ass."

"Finn, watch your mouth," Rory called as she wrapped Jess' leg. "And don't worry you guys, I can handle this guy."

"Aw, come on, Ace. Colin, Finn and I could totally take that guy."

Rory snorted. "Other than the fact that the three of you are bed ridden, I'm sure that you two could beat him up. But I, for one, do not want to clean up after the bloodshed. So sit back and rest."

Jess cocked his head to the side. "Well someone's popular." When Rory didn't say anything, he continued. "I've already had three death threats and it's not even breakfast time yet."

"If you keep being impossible, it'll be four."

He grinned broadly. "Well, Ror—do you mind if I call you Ror?—I'm not usually as annoying as you make me out to be."

Rory's eyebrows shot up. "Oh really?"

"Really. I'm actually a sensitive guy that enjoys Italian food, Frank Sinatra, a good book and long walks on the beach with a pretty lady."

Rory felt a slight blush creep up her cheeks and she didn't know why. _Get a hold of yourself, Rory_, she reprimanded herself. "Good for you," she mumbled under her breath. "Hold still, I have to change the dressings."

Jess tried to catch her eye. "So how 'bout it?"

Rory shot him a confused look. "How about what?"

"That long walk on the beach," he replied with mock hurt expressed on his face. "You'll enjoy yourself, I promise."

She narrowed her eyes. "No."

Jess' grin widened. _A challenge_, he thought gleefully to himself. _This is going to be a lot of fun_. "Oh, come on Rory. I'm a fun guy. Just get to know me."

She shot him a withering look. "I'm not allowed to get attached to any of my patients. And besides, I wouldn't go out with you even if I was."

He brought a hand to his chest. "I'm hurt."

She smirked as she tied the ends of the gauze extra tight, just to annoy him. "I know." And with that, she walked away, getting ready to attend to someone else.

Jess smiled as she sauntered off. He wasn't worried about her blatant brush off. He'd get her to say yes to him soon enough. All she needed was time.

"Rory."

She looked up and quelled the groan that arose in her throat. "Hello, Paris."

"Rory, what did Dr. Hamilton _explicitly_ tell you about proper bedside conduct?" the blonde nurse demanded. Rory had long since realized that her superior was not only pushy, overbearing, and competitive, she was also a micromanager with a huge Napoleon complex. It took a lot of adjusting and a lot of pillow punching, but she had finally managed to find a way to handle Paris without losing her mind. And one of her surefire methods was to let Paris think that she was always right.

"He said to remain cordial and detached at all times," Rory replied tonelessly.

"Then tell me _why_ I heard you threatening that soldier in the corner. Because I would love to understand the inner workings of that pretty little head of yours. In what alternate universe would threatening a patient ever be considered proper conduct for a nurse?"

"I was not threatening him," murmured Rory.

"Then why did I hear Finn threaten to kick his ass? You've been getting your loyal following to protect your innocence, haven't you? I might also remind you that under _no circumstances_ are you allowed to entertain any possibility of anything more than a professional relationship with any of these men."

Rory sighed. "I know, Paris."

"If you know, then why are you _blatantly_ breaking the rules? Do you _want_ to get evicted from this hospital? Do you seriously want to waste all that talent?"

"Paris, I didn't break the rules. I didn't flirt and I didn't threaten. He was the one that was flirting. I never did anything."

Paris pointed her finger at the underling and gave her the most threatening glare that she could. "If I catch you breaking the rules, you will be on probation faster than you can blink." And with that, the huffy blonde walked away, leaving Rory to fume at her predicament.

"Oh nuu-urse," Jess' distinct voice called. "I think my dressings are a little tight. I'd really appreciate it if you could loosen them, please."

Rory let out a growl as she balled her hands into little fists, letting her fingernails dig into her palms. This was going to be a long few weeks.

**A/N - First of all, I'd just like to say that I know that Finn is Australian, but if I kept him Australian then he most likely wouldn't have been in the war, much less an injured soldier. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, Finn is a young British soldier with a cockney accent. Hey, at least he's still got _an _accent, right?**

**Review if you want more! Oh, and be sure to check out my writer's blog (listed as my homepage on my profile).**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Jess glanced discreetly at the soldier in the bed next to him. "Psst, Logan," he hissed out the corner of his mouth. "You wanna play poker?"

Logan scanned the room for any sign of Rory before turning to Jess and smiling. "Sure, why not? Collin, Finn! You up for a game?"

"Of course," Finn said breezily as he grabbed his crutches and hobbled over to the two of them.

"When are we not?" Collin said as he pulled up a chair for the both of them.

"So what are we playing for?" Logan asked as he straightened up in his bed.

Jess reached around in his pockets, looking for anything that might be worth gambling. "Cigarettes," he said as he pulled out his last pack.

"I'm in," Collin said enthusiastically. He had gone through his last pack two days ago and he had been itching to light up ever since.

Twenty minutes into the game, Rory strolled into the infirmary and frowned at two empty beds near the supply room. When she realized who they belonged to, she whipped her head around and found the troublesome four playing cards.

"Just what do you think you gentlemen are doing?" she asked in a sweet voice dripping with disapproval.

Logan looked up from his cards with a roguish grin. "Hey, Ace! We're playing for cigs. You want in?"

Rory wrinkled her nose in distaste. She personally detested the habit of blowing smoke out the mouth and found it to be vile and disgusting. She fought to have smoking banned in the infirmary, but as Dr. Hamilton himself smoked nearly two packs a day, her opinion was soundly ignored. "No thank you, Logan," she informed him with as much dignity as she could.

"Ha!" Finn shouted as he threw down his hand. "Royal flush, I win!"

The other boys groaned as they too threw down their hands and watched in envy as Finn swept the entire pile of cigarettes towards him.

"Gambling is not allowed in the infirmary," she told them pointedly. "Whose cards are those?"

"No one's," they chimed, not bothering to look up from their game.

"Uh-huh," she said skeptically as Jess dealt them out.

"We found them," said Collin.

"On the floor," added Finn.

"By my bed," Logan informed.

"We just thought that we'd put them to good use instead of wasting them," Jess said, finally looking up from his hand after he arranged his cards the way he wanted. He shot Rory a devilish grin that did strange things to her pulse whenever she saw it. "Are you sure you don't want to play?"

"I'm very sure," she said as she strode to their little circle and took the cards from his hands. "And I'm also very sure that you won't be playing anymore today."

This action was greeted with protests as the other soldiers who watched the exchange smirked and chuckled. Logan, Collin and Fin should have known better than to break the rules while Rory was there; she was a stickler for them and there was no way they could change her mind once it was made up.

"Aw, come on, Rory!" whined Finn. "I was on a roll!"

"Not anymore you're not," she said savagely. "And if you four continue to misbehave, I'll take away all your cigarettes as well."

Collin gasped theatrically. "You wouldn't!"

Rory only nodded solemnly in response. "I would."

As far as the four of them were concerned, that was hitting below the belt. Grudgingly, Collin and Finn hobbled back to their beds as Logan huffed impatiently. "Ace, you're killing me here."

"If you're so bored, then why don't you read?"

"What, a book?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Yes, a book."

"I don't wanna," he whined.

She shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Jess waited until Rory walked away to pull a cigarette out of his pocket and light up.

"Damn it, Finn won all of mine," Logan hissed as he searched his pockets. "Do you mind if we share? I'll pay you back as soon as I can."

Jess nodded and handed him one. "No problem. So, uh, what's the deal between you, Collin, and Finn?"

Logan let out a huge puff of smoke and sighed in contentment. "We've been best friends since grade school," he explained. "When the war started up, we joined thinking that we should do something for the greater good, you know?"

"Yeah," Jess nodded.

"What's your story?"

Jess sucked on the end of his cigarette and thought carefully before answering. "I lived in New York all my life with my Ma. Dad was in the Navy. He was at Pearl Harbor when they bombed it."

"Oh."

"Yeah." He paused to think for a moment. "I couldn't understand it, you know? We never really did anything and then those goddamn Japs just go and bomb the shit out of us. I was so pissed off and I wanted to do something to the bastards that killed my old man."

Logan nodded sympathetically. "Yeah. I understand."

They lay in companionable silence for a little while

At that moment, Paris burst through the entrance to the tiny field hospital and shouted, "Rory!"

Immediately the nurse came out of nowhere. "Paris? What happened?"

"Go get Dr. Hamilton. I found a soldier in one of the abandoned trenches."

Immediately, Rory ran off to find the good doctor. Three minutes later, he came with her and rushed to the entrance where Paris stood. "What's wrong with him?" he asked the nurse as he pulled his stethoscope from around his neck and put it in his ears.

"Multiple gunshot wounds, one in each shoulder and one in the upper left thigh," she informed him hurriedly. "I think they might be infected too. It looks like he's had them for a while."

"It's a miracle he didn't bleed out," he murmured to himself. "Rory, go prepare the operating room. We'll need to extract these bullets immediately."

Rory nodded and raced off to prep the OR. Jess and the rest of the soldiers watched what was taking place in grim fascination; it was one thing to be wounded and on the way to recovery, but it was something completely different to watch a fellow soldier on the brink of death, struggling to remain alive.

"Was there anyone else, Paris?" Dr. Hamilton asked.

"No. He was the only one I found."

Ten minutes later, Rory rushed out of the room with a stretcher. "It's ready, Doctor."

"Thank you, Rory. Paris, get Beatrice. I want the two of you in surgery with me. Rory, stay here in the infirmary and take care of the soldiers. Can you do it by yourself?"

Rory nodded. "I can handle it, Dr. Hamilton. Don't worry."

He didn't need to be told twice. Without another word, Paris ran off to find Beatrice and the three of them lifted the wounded soldier onto the stretcher and rolled him into the OR.

The moment the door was closed, Rory disappeared behind a curtain and breathed hard. Her job was difficult sometimes. She knew that her nightmares were nothing compared to what some of the soldiers had to deal with, but she still woke up often enough drenched in sweat from horrible dreams of severed soldiers and being unable to help them.

She emerged from behind the curtain a few minutes later after she managed to compose herself. The other soldiers hadn't noticed, but Jess certainly did.

"Are you okay?" he asked her quietly when she made the rounds to his bed.

"I'm fine," she said briskly.

"You're awfully pale for being fine," he remarked.

"I'm not pale," she said as she checked his dressings. His wound was coming along very nicely and pretty soon he'd be completely healed.

"You know, it's okay to be vulnerable sometimes," he said as she began to back away from his bed. "You don't always have to be strong."

She shook her head. "That's where you're wrong, Jess. This is a hospital and I am a nurse. It's my job to be strong."

"I know," he replied. "But it's okay to take it easy every once in a while. You look like you could use a break from being our hero."

For the first time in a long time, Rory smiled. _She should smile more often_, Jess thought to himself when he saw the sweet grin that spread across her cheeks. "Thanks, Jess," she told him. "You're not as bad as you pretend to be."

As she walked away, he called out, "Does that mean I can have my cards back?"

**A/N - I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to get this up! And I'm doubly sorry that this is on the short side, but I promise if I get a lot of reviews, the next chapter will be longer and will also come sooner!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

A week after Doyle's (for that was the name of the soldier Paris found) operation, everyone was beginning to wish that she had just left him in the trench.

"Nurse!" the soldier demanded in a demanding, haughty tone of a distinctly privileged brat. "Nurse, I need some water! I need some water now!"

"Oh my God, shut up," Jess heard Logan mutter in the bed beside him.

Coincidentally, Emily, Beatrice, and Paris were nowhere to be found. Rory sighed at the grim predictability of the situation and dragged her tired feet to Doyle's bed. "Yes, Doyle? You said you needed some water?"

"Yeah," he whined. "I've been parched for the past two days!"

Rory bit back an insult and instead nodded meekly as she went to fetch him a cup of water. She had to draw on every last bit of patience she had to restrain herself from strangling him every time he opened his mouth, but it just amazed her every day he survived. And she definitely wasn't the only one that wanted to kill him.

"Nurse, I'm really thirsty! Could you hurry it up a little?"

"Here's a thought," Jess said aloud. "Why don't you shut up and let her do her job? She's getting you your damn water, so quit whining."

Doyle glared at Jess who gladly returned the sentiment. "I don't believe I was asking _you_."

Rory returned a moment later with his water. "Here you go, Doyle. Two ice cubes, like you like it."

"Did you let the water chill a little bit before you added the ice cubes?" he asked, not accepting the cup. "It's always better if you chill it first before you add the ice cubes."

"Quit being such a baby and drink the stupid water," Logan growled. Of everyone in the infirmary, Doyle annoyed Logan the most.

"I can't drink it unless it's a certain temperature!" Doyle whined.

All of a sudden, Paris appeared out of nowhere, took the cup of water from Rory's hands, and tossed the contents (ice cubes and all) in Doyle's face. "There!" she shouted. "Now you have your stupid water! And quit treating my nurses like your servants!"

Rory's eyes widened until they were the size of quarters. "Um, excuse me just one moment, Doyle," she told the slightly shocked and drenched soldier as she took her superior firmly by the arm. "Just let me talk to Paris here for a moment."

Rory yanked Paris out of earshot of everyone in the infirmary. "What the hell was that?" she hissed at her superior. Paris was the very last person who would ever toss a cup of water in a patient's face. She might let her annoyance get the best of her and say an unkind word every now and then, but she'd only lose her cool around her nurses, not in front of the soldiers. What she just did was the equivalent of a nervous breakdown.

"I have had it!" she shouted, not caring if the patients in the infirmary could hear her or not. "If Doyle says one more word, I swear to God I will take a scalpel to his—"

"Paris!" Rory raised her voice over her superior's murderous threat. "Get a hold of yourself!"

"Rory, he was treating you like a maid! You can't possibly—"

"I know," she cut her off. "I didn't like it either, but he is a _patient_, and it is our job to make him comfortable. We are the nurses, remember? This is what we signed up for. There was always bound to be one annoying patient."

Paris huffed an impatient sigh. "I don't know how you put up with him."

"Well, as soon as I find out, I'll tell you. Now go apologize."

The head nurse reluctantly dragged her tired feet over to Doyle's bedside where he was trying to wipe himself off with his bed sheets. "I'm sorry," she mumbled under her breath. "I'll get you a cup of water right away."

"Yeah," Doyle said imperiously. "And this time, make sure you chill the water before you add the ice cubes."

Rory had to grab Paris' shoulders to prevent her superior from launching herself at her hapless patient. "Paris!" she hissed in her ear, "Get a grip! You're the nurse, remember? Now go get him his water!"

The irritated nurse released a frightening growl and stomped off to get Doyle his water. Rory could only offer an apologetic smile to the less-than-amused soldier before turning around and finishing some of the other tasks she had to finish before lunch.

"You're a saint for putting up with him," Jess told her when she finally made it around to his bed. "It's all Logan and I can do to keep from killing the little bastard."

"Well if it weren't for the fact that I'd lose my job for encouraging you, I'd let you," she said as she checked his wounds. "You're coming along very well, Jess. A few more days and your wound will completely close up. Then you can get out of the bed and start exercising."

He grinned widely. "Great. Then I can take you out on that date that I promised."

Rory blushed and refused to meet his eyes. "I don't believe I ever agreed to that arrangement."

"Not out loud, but I can tell you want to," he said with practiced charm. "Come on, doll, just go out with me once. I promise you won't regret it."

Rory ignored him and went on to Logan. "How are you feeling today, Mr. Huntzberger?"

"Pretty good," he told her. "I'd feel even better if that pansy wasn't here."

She chuckled. "I think we all would."

"Hey, when you're finished making the rounds, can you help me write a letter to my sister?" he asked. "I promised to tell her if I ever got wounded and I know she's probably worried sick because I haven't written to her in a while."

"Of course," she said as she wrapped his head wound in fresh gauze. "In fact, I was going to start writing some letters for the soldiers that wanted them."

"Thanks, Rory," Logan smiled at her. "You're the best."

When rounds was finished and when she made sure that Doyle got his water to his exact specifications, she fished some stationary out of the supply room and sat down at the foot of Logan's bed as he dictated his letter to her. Five other soldiers asked for her services and when she was finished with their letters, she called out to the infirmary, "Does anyone else want to write to a loved one?"

"Yeah," Jess said with a raised hand. "I want to."

Rory pulled up a chair to his bedside and poised her pen over the paper. "Whenever you're ready."

"There are only two colors here: red and gray."

"Wait," Rory said as she looked up to frown at him. "What about the salutation?"

"Leave the salutation for the end," he told her, impatient to get on with the rest of his letter.

She rolled her eyes. "That completely defeats the purpose of a salutation then."

"No, just write, 'Dear' and leave the rest of it blank. You can go up and add a name or whatever when I'm finished with the letter."

"Why can't I write it now?"

"Because if I don't dictate what I'm thinking right now I'm going to lose it. Come on, Rory, just start writing."

She sighed and brought her pen back to the paper. "Okay."

Jess began again. "There seem to be only two colors here: red and gray."

The letter looked like this:

_Dear _(the salutation was left incomplete)

_There are only two colors here: red and gray. __The gray of our uniforms, the gray of our hope, the gray despair of our days.__ The only thing that breaks the gray monotony is the red of our blood and the red of our hatred of the people that left us in this state. There are very brief hours between the bleak day and even bleaker night when I look out the cloudy window and see the bright colors of the sunset, but even that is infused with shoots of red. I can't seem to escape the red._

_The only time I can get away from all of that is when I close my eyes and remember your beautiful blue smile. Whenever this hopeless existence begins to overwhelm me, I just remember the softness of your touch, the music of your laughter and the gentleness in your eyes. I find myself spending my days, imagining the wind as it blows through your soft brown hair. I wish I could run my hands through your wavy brown locks, but I content myself to drink up the image I have of you whenever I can._

_I often dream of what would happen if it weren't like this. I wonder what would have happened if I wasn't wounded, if I wasn't a soldier with a duty to my country. We both serve our country with selfless hearts, but sometimes I wish that neither of us were so dedicated to what we do. If things were different, if we never went to war then I could be on the other side with you in my arms. I wouldn't be living in this gray and red world. Instead, I'd be living in the blue of your eyes, in the rich warmth of your hair and the sunshine of your smile. __These thoughts are all that sustain me through the day._

_One day, when this war is over, I'll find you. I'll find you and I'll show you the world. I promise. Until then, I am left in this dreary, hopeless infirmary, surrounded by death and despair with only the dream and the wish of your touch._

_Sincerely and Truly Yours,  
__Jess Mariano_

As she wrote down his words, Rory felt herself get swept up in the beauty of Jess' thoughts. She became one with her pen as she immersed herself in the pure poetry of the letter. She was sad when he was finished, and strangely envious of whomever it was addressed to. This girl had to be the luckiest girl in the world to have such a lovely letter addressed to her.

"Okay," Jess said, after Rory finished signing his name, "now go back to the salutation and address it, 'Dear Rory'."

Her hand stopped over the paper and she looked up into the soldier's eyes. There was no laughing smirk, no self-confidence in his eyes. All she saw was seriousness, sincerity and intensity.

The two of them stayed like that for a very long time. It wasn't until Dr. Hamilton called her that she very reluctantly got out of her chair at Jess' bedside and ran to do whatever was asked of her.

After she had finished all her chores, she tucked all of the soldiers' letters into envelopes to be dropped off to the Postal Service whenever she could leave the hospital. Her hand stopped when she reached Jess' letter and she held her breath as her eyes grazed over the sweet sincerity of his words. Then she very carefully tucked it into an envelope and placed it under her pillow so that his promises would be with her in her dreams.

**A/N - As promised, this chapter is longer and sooner!**

**If you guys want more, then you'll have to review! And don't forget to check the blog (listed as the homepage on my profile) for my explanation of this chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"That was horrible," Jess announced. The two of them had finally made it through _Wuthering Heights_ only to be completely appalled by the behavior of the two characters. "How in the world could that possible be considered a romantic classic? No one in their right minds would think any of that was sweet. Heathcliff was a jerk and Cathy was a selfish bitch."

"Watch your mouth," Rory chided lightly. "And yes, I happen to agree with you about Heathcliff and Cathy, but I have to admit it was romantic in a very unorthodox way."

"Oh come on!" Jess cried. "How could that story be interpreted as romantic?"

"Because," she began primly while trying to ignore the blush that blossomed over her cheeks, "not even time could keep them apart. And after all that time, Heathcliff never stopped loving her. He did all that he could to make himself a better man to win her heart."

Jess snorted. "Very loose interpretation of 'better man'."

Rory smiled, but didn't say anything. "I believe, Mr. Mariano, you made a promise. If I finished _Wuthering Heights_ for you, you'd go to sleep."

He heaved a long-suffering sigh and nodded. "Okay…" he said reluctantly as he settled deeper into his bed. "Could you at least tuck me in?"

She rolled her eyes. "Do I look like your mother?"

"If I say yes, will you?"

"Good night, Jess," she said as she put the chair she had been sitting on away and made a motion to turn off the lamp that she used to read by.

"Good night, Rory. Sweet dreams."

After Rory had gotten ready to go to sleep, she slipped under the sheets in her bed and fingered the envelope that she had left there. She smiled to herself, like her own little secret. _Sweet dreams indeed_.

The next morning, before the nurses went on their rounds, Collin came hobbling into the hospital after a stealthy trip outside. "Look what I found!" he whispered to his friends when he reached their bed.

Jess and Logan both sat up in their beds and craned their necks to see what it was he was holding in his hand. Finn limped in a few moments behind him, the excitement on Collin's face mirrored on his own. "Did you show them?" he asked eagerly.

Logan shrugged. "It's just an empty beer bottle. So what?"

Finn's jaw dropped. "So what? _So what?_"

"This, my friend," Collin said very confidentially, "is the key to our revenge."

Jess' and Logan's eyes lit up when they realized what their friends were insinuating. The day before, Doyle ratted them out when Jess pulled out a spare deck of cards and started a game of poker. The moment Rory took them away they declared war on the traitorous snitch. They just hadn't been able to think of a proper prank until now.

"That's genius!" Logan whispered excitedly.

"And we didn't find just one," Finn informed them as he began to pull more bottles from under his shirt. "We found at least six of them."

Jess grinned widely. He looked up quickly to see if anyone was watching them, then checked to see if Doyle was still asleep. The moment he heard the little weasel's steady snores, he told Finn, "Quick. Give me two of those, then put the rest of them under Doyle's sheets while he's still sleeping."

Collin was confused. "What are you doing?"

He shook his head as he quickly hid the empty bottles underneath his blanket. "You'll see. Just do it."

A few hours later, the nurses were going through rounds, and if Jess hadn't mistaken the day, it was Paris' turn to check on him. When rounds had started, he pulled out one of the bottles and set it on his bedside table and when he spotted Paris making her way over, he pretended to fumblingly hide his second bottle after taking a hasty sip. Just as he had planned, Paris had seen his action. With narrowed eyes, the formidable nurse swiftly strode to his bedside. "What was that, Mr. Mariano?" she demanded.

Jess tried to pull a look of innocence on his face while also trying to look drunk. "I've noo clue what you're t-taaaaalking about," he slurred his words. He could almost hear Collin's and Finn's snickers on the other side of the room.

Paris shot a glance to his bedside table and quick as a blink, she snatched the empty bottle and held it testily in her hand. "Mr. Mariano, have you been drinking?"

"Maaaybee..." Jess intoned, his eyelids half open and his motions very loose.

"Where did you get this?"

Jess very slothfully lifted his arm and pointed to the bed where Doyle lay. Luckily the guy was still asleep which made the whole prank much easier. "Heeee gave it to me." Then Jess giggled like a little boy and whispered conspiratorially behind his hand to Paris, "He told me not t'tell anyone. 'Specially you."

Paris' blonde eyebrows shot up her forehead. "Oh? He did, did he?"

Jess nodded drunkenly. "He called you a bitch. Or maybe he called you a witch…? I dun 'member, all I 'member was that he said you hid your broomstick up your butt for kafeseeping."

Beside him, Logan made a sound between a cough and a laugh. Paris, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes at the seemingly drunk soldier. "Oh really?" And without another word, she stomped off to Doyle's bed.

There were only a few soldiers left that were still asleep, but it didn't matter anymore. Paris' shrieks ensured that they wouldn't be asleep for long anyway.

The first thing the irate nurse did was rip the covers off the sleeping soldier. When she spotted the other empty beer bottles lying by his feet, all hell broke loose.

"DOYLE!" she screamed. The soldier in question leapt about a foot in the air and groggily whipped his head in Paris' direction. The moment he spotted her furious expression, he promptly fell out of bed.

"ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES ARE FORBIDDEN ON HOSPITAL PREMISES!" screeched the nurse. With no regard to his poor physical condition, she reached down and grabbed hold of Doyle by his ear. He started whimpering, but she ignored him.

"YOU ARE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME? I SHOULD HAVE JUST LEFT YOU IN THE DITCH I FOUND YOU IN!" She gave a hearty tug on his earlobe and he yelped in pain. "HERE, LET ME SHOW YOU WHERE I KEEP MY BROOMSTICK YOU SNIVELING PARASITE!" And with a firm grip on Doyle's ear, she dragged him to the head nurse's office.

The moment the door slammed shut, the entire infirmary burst into laughter. "Nice one, Mariano!" Logan gasped through his laughter. He offered his hand and Jess shook it heartily, chuckling as he did so.

"Thank you very much, Huntzberger."

Seconds later, Rory came rushing into the infirmary, her hair in disarray and her eyes wide in horror. "Oh, Paris, I'm so sorry! I must have—"

The sight of laughing soldiers threw her off a bit. Then she whipped her head around several times to find her superior. When she realized Paris was nowhere in sight, she asked weakly, "Where's Paris?"

"Beating up Doyle," Collin told her with a smirk.

"Why so late, love?" asked Finn. "You missed all the fun."

Rory looked up and sought Jess' laughing eyes on the other side of the room. Without another thought, she strolled to him and asked, "What the heck happened? I heard this explosion and someone screaming and I realized I had slept late and I thought something terrible was going on and—"

"Relax, Ace," Logan told her from Jess' other side. "Doyle just got what was coming to him."

Once Rory realized that none of them were in any immediate danger, she calmed down enough to ask Jess, "Do I want to know?"

"Probably not."

She nodded. "Alright then." And with that, she started on her morning duties.

**A/N - I needed a little bit of lighthearted interaction. And I also wanted to delve deeper into the Collin/Finn/Logan/Jess friendship. :) Tell me what you guys think!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Rory," Jess called. Beatrice had just got through handing out the dinner trays and Jess was currently glaring at his own, unsure of what to make of the "food" on his tray. None of it seemed edible by any stretch of the human imagination.

A few minutes later, Rory dragged her feet out of her office and to Jess' bedside. "Yes, Jess?"

"I can't eat this," he whined, gesturing to dinner, consisting of buttered bread steamed green beans, and a very thin slice of ham. "I don't even know what's in it."

"Okay, well we've got a couple of plants very high in fiber and other nutrients that have been soaked in hot water fumes for a while, some grain that's been crushed into a fine pulp mixed with water that we baked for a while so it wouldn't be so gooey and that's been slathered in thickened and refrigerated cow fluids. And then over _here_," she gestured to the slice of ham, "is a very unfortunate pig that had to be slaughtered to feed you. You're not going to let this pig's sacrifice go to waste, are you?"

"What if I said I was Jewish?"

Rory raised her eyebrows. "You're obviously not orthodox."

"What if I'm conservative?"

She huffed impatiently. "Well seeing as how there aren't any rabbis in close vicinity of this hospital, you can just eat the green beans and the bread, can't you?"

His face contorted in disgust. "Rory, it's giving off this stench! Is bread supposed to smell like that?"

"We don't have anything else for you to eat right now," she said. "I'm going to the market tomorrow. Just put up with it for one night. Please?"

Jess sighed. "You know, the least you could do would be to eat this crap with me."

"What?"

"Eat with me. To show solidarity and all that."

"How in the world would I show solidarity by eating with you?"

"You'd be showing me that I'm not in this alone. I'm not the only one who has to eat…whatever this is."

"You aren't," she pointed out. "The rest of the hospital has to eat this, including the nurses and Dr. Hamilton."

Then Jess shot her a cocky grin, one that he knew was very difficult for the young nurse to ignore. "Then eat with me. I'm not going to be able to finish all this food by myself, you know."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Then I'll have to stick it in the ice box and feed it to you tomorrow."

Jess' eyes lit up. "Will you?"

"Will I what?"

"Feed me."

Rory let out an infuriated growl. "Jess, you're so juvenile, you know that?"

"Is that a yes?"

"If it is, will you shut up and eat?"

"If you mean shut up about the food, yes."

Rory turned and left the room. She returned in a few moments with a chair and a fork. In a huff, she set the chair next to Jess' bedside and plopped on it. "You are the most demanding soldier I have ever met," she grumbled as she started picking at the ham.

He grinned at her as he bit a green bean. "I'm glad I can leave such an impression on you."

"Hmph."

After the soldiers had finished their meager dinner, Beatrice came back through the infirmary to pick up the trays. When she came around to the other side, her eyes widened when she saw Rory sitting at Jess' bedside, the two of them laughing at something. The comely nurse felt the familiar pangs of longing and jealousy as she saw Rory's blue eyes light up in humor and happiness. Without the two of them noticing, she took the tray and left them, all the while wondering what exactly was going on between the two of them.

_

* * *

_

_The soldier whipped his head around to see who had called him. The grass on the battlefield was stained with blood everywhere and the early morning haze made it difficult to see anything. He felt chills travel down his spine at the feeling of vulnerability. His hands tightened around his machine gun._

_"Jess!" the voice shouted again._

_"Who's there?" he called out. "What do you want?"_

_"Jess!"_

_He finally realized that the voice was coming from the ground. He looked down and froze at the sight of his father's severed head._

_"Jess!" it grinned. "Where have you been? I've been waiting for you!"_

"AHHH!" he yelled. He suddenly found himself sitting up straight in his hospital bed, gasping for air, his mind reeling from the horrible image of his father's talking head.

Seconds later, Rory came running into the infirmary, wrapping a bathrobe around her nightgown. "Jess?" she asked when she spotted him sitting stock still in his bed. "Jess, what's the matter?"

"My father," he gasped. "H-he—it—I—he just—"

"Okay," Rory said soothingly. She didn't bother pulling up a chair. She just sat at the end of his bed.

"His head—his head was talking to me, Rory," he whispered, his eyes still wide with shock and horror. "His head was just lying on the ground, telling me that he was waiting for me!"

Rory's blue eyes welled up in tears when she saw how vulnerable and scared he was. Jess' cool façade and composed demeanor was no more. Now he was just another soldier, mentally scarred by the effects of the battlefield.

Without really thinking the decision through, Rory leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Jess buried his face in her shoulder and wept.

"It's okay," she whispered soothingly in his ear. "You're going to be okay. I promise, I'm not going to let anything happen to you while you're here."

She held him until he fell back asleep. When his breathing slowed, she gently laid him back against his pillows and brought the sheets around his chest. "Sweet dreams, Jess," she whispered. Then she softly planted a kiss on his forehead and left the infirmary for the night.

**A/N - So, there's a lot of lit action in this chapter to make up for the lack of Jess/Rory interaction in the last one. Hope you like it. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Jess, slow down!" shouted Rory as she jogged to catch up with her patient. "This is your first day outside and I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"Aw, come on Rory!" he laughed as he strode out into the trees. "I'm finally out of that stupid hospital bed and you're trying to ruin all my fun."

The nurse finally caught up to him and grabbed him by the arm to keep him from going any farther. "I'm not trying to ruin all your fun, Jess. I'm trying to keep you safe. If you want to keep walking outside, you're going to have to take it easy. Do you understand?"

He sighed. "Fine."

She nodded satisfactorily. "Good. And please, try not to pick up any empty beer bottles."

Jess grinned. "You have to admit, that was funny."

Rory reluctantly smiled. "I had to pull Paris off of him just to make sure he came out alive."

"Aw, why'd you do that?" he whined. "You should have let her kill him. The world's better off if he isn't in it."

The nurse's smile dissolved into a frown. "That's not very nice, Jess."

He stuck his tongue out at her. "I'm not a very nice person."

"Oh, come on," Rory chided lightly. "You're a very nice person. You just don't like other people seeing that."

"No," he said quietly. "I'm really not."

Jess took in a deep breath and gazed around at his surroundings. "It's weird how you only miss something when it's gone. I always took walks outside before the war back home, but I always took that for granted. I never thought I could lose that ability so quickly."

Rory nodded. "It makes you appreciate everything that much more."

The soldier nudged a rock with the toe of his worn boot. "What do you miss the most?"

The nurse looked up at him questioningly. "Hm? What did you say?"

"What do you miss the most?"

She shrugged. "My innocence, I guess." She looked down and laughed a little ashamedly. "I bet you didn't know…Logan, Colin, Finn and I all go way back. We grew up in the same neighborhood in Connecticut. Our parents all sent us to the best schools and gave us everything we've ever wanted. We knew the economy was failing and we knew that people were suffering, but we didn't care. All we cared about was having a good time. Then the war started up. The boys wanted to do something. They said they couldn't just sit around and not help their country." Rory smiled sadly. "I guess that was when we all grew up. Logan, Colin and Finn all signed up to join the army and I went through medical training to be a nurse. Mom was really supportive. She said if I felt so strongly about the war effort, then I should go for it."

Jess watched her crystalline blue eyes glaze over with indescribable sadness while he pondered her confession. The war must have really changed her because he couldn't possibly imagine Rory as a spoiled child of privileged society.

"What would you have done if you didn't become a nurse?" he finally asked.

Again, Rory shrugged. "I don't know. I might have become a writer, but my grandparents were furious that I even entertained the idea. They wanted me to go to university to find a husband and start a family, like my mother had done. But I knew Mom was unhappy—she always told me not to settle for a quiet existence. That's part of the reason she was so enthusiastic when I said I wanted to be a nurse to help the war effort."

"What did your grandparents say when you joined?"

She laughed humorlessly. "Oh, what did they say? Grandpa said, 'We approve of your desire to aid your country, but couldn't you have found a less extreme way to help? Why don't you gather spare tin? Or you could volunteer at the offices and phone for support.' They didn't want me to go overseas. They didn't think it was proper for a young lady to be with the soldiers."

Jess understood their point to an extent; he would have been leery about someone as beautiful as Rory being surrounded by a bunch of war-hardened men.

Without thinking, he reached forward and took her hand in his. "I'm glad you didn't listen to them."

Rory stared back into his dark eyes and felt that familiar melting sensation that seemed all the more potent as he held her hand. Her logical side told her that this was a terrible idea—in fact, it had been screaming at her since she agreed to take Jess out for a walk. She knew he was dangerous, and she knew that she was unpredictable around him. But her fanciful side just didn't give a damn.

"Jess," she whispered. "I…"

"You what?" he prompted softly. She felt his warm breath dance across her face.

His lips were so close. If she moved just a little bit closer—

"Rory!" shouted a voice from far away. The two jumped in surprise, widening the gap between them.

Rory cleared her throat and nervously scraped her sweaty palms across her apron. "Emily? Emily, I'm right here!"

The dark-haired nurse bounded from behind some trees, her small brown eyes wild with excitement. "Rory, there you are! You must come quickly! Lieutenant Conner is here!"

Jess watched her already huge eyes widen. "Yes, I'll be right there!" Then she turned to him. "Hurry, we have to go back!" She hiked up her skirts and sprinted back toward the tiny field hospital.

"Wait!" he shouted. "Rory, you said I can't run!"

She slowed down, but only enough to let him catch up to her. "Come on, Jess! Hurry up!"

"Who's Lieutenant Conner?" he asked.

"He's the liaison between the army hospitals and the battlefield. He must have news about the war!"

A couple minutes later, the two of them burst through the hospital doors. They found the entire hospital circled around an impeccably dressed army official. He stood incredibly straight in the suit that marked him as an army official. He held his hat in his arms, allowing his bright blond hair to glint in the dim hospital light.

"Lieutenant!" Rory cried. "Do you have any news?"

He turned around and smiled widely at the nurse. Jess immediately liked him. "I do, but I was asked to wait until you were retrieved. Now that you're here, I can finally share it." The Lieutenant turned back to the occupants of the hospital. "The end of the war is in sight. We're advancing into Germany and it doesn't look as if they can hold out much longer."

Whoops and hollers echoed through the tiny infirmary. Jess' heart swelled with excitement.

When the cheers died down, Lieutenant Conner continued. "We're almost there, but not quite. I was sent here to gather all the soldiers that have recovered well enough to return to the battlefield. We need all the men we have to finish this off."

Rory immediately felt her stomach tighten. Maybe this news wasn't as exciting as she thought it would be.

"Dr. Hamilton, I need a list of the soldiers that are well enough to return. I'm taking them with me to join the rest of the troops at the edge of the Rhine. The Soviets are storming through Berlin as we speak—soon we will meet them there."

The doctor nodded. "I'll have it for you by the end of the day."

The lieutenant nodded. "Thank you. Now, if you don't mind, could I be shown to a spare room? The journey hasn't been easy."

Paris immediately stepped forward and led Lieutenant Conner to the spare room they kept for guests behind the OR.

When he was gone, cheers erupted once more in the infirmary. Colin and Finn got out of their beds and danced as best as they could on wounded limbs while Logan kept pumping the air over and over again with emphatic fists. Beatrice raced over to Rory and gave her a huge hug. "Can you believe it?" she cried over the din. "The war is almost over! We'll be home soon!"

Rory tried to smile. "I know! I know!"

Beatrice eventually let go and rushed off to hug Emily. When she was gone, Rory turned to Jess. She noticed an odd glint in the soldier's eyes.

"It's almost over," he whispered quietly. She had to lean in closer to hear him over all the noise.

"I know," she murmured again. But she couldn't bring herself to feel happy about the news.

"Hey," he said gently when he noticed the tears glistening in her eyes. "What's wrong? This is good. This means we're almost home."

Rory bit her lip. "Didn't you hear?" she whispered desperately. "He's looking for soldiers well enough to return to battle and he's bringing them to Germany."

"I know," he said.

"That means more death. They might get injured again and we won't be there to help them. We won't be anywhere near them and they'll have to go to incompetent German nurses who don't even know how to communicate with them. Or worse, they'll have to deal with English nurses! They won't try to save the limb—they'll just go ahead and amputate it, just because it's easier." Tears started to roll down her eyes. "I know I wasn't supposed to get attached, but I couldn't help it. I did, and now they're going to take them away to get injured somewhere else. Why can't this war just end? Why can't we just go home?"

"Hey," Jess insisted softly. "Look at me. Everything's going to be alright. The war _will_ end soon. I promise."

Rory sniffed. "And that's not even the worst part," she continued.

"What's the worst part?"

She took a deep breath. "The worst part is that Dr. Hamilton's going to make you go because you can walk again. You're well enough to leave."

Jess' heart leapt in his ribcage at the implication of her words. "Rory—"

"So how can you say it's going to be okay?" she demanded. "How can it be okay when you might get hurt and I won't be there? You might even die!" Her words were getting hysterical. "Who's going to tell them that you're allergic to penicillin? Who's going to know that you can't sleep after drinking coffee? How're those stupid English nurses supposed to figure out that you love books? They don't know your home address to send your letters—they won't even know that you hate asparagus! How can this possibly be okay?"

Jess whipped his head around to make sure no one was watching. When the coast was clear, he took Rory by the elbow and dragged her outside. The sun had already begun to set and the sky was lit ablaze with fiery reds and deep oranges. But Jess could only focus on the deep blue of Rory's tear-filled eyes.

"Rory—"

"Jess, you can't leave me," she whimpered, "because somewhere in the middle of all of this, I was stupid enough to fall in love with you."

His heart soared at the sound of her words. Without stopping to think about it, he leaned in and kissed her soundly on the lips. And never in his wildest dreams, did he imagine it could feel like this.

Her mouth moved with his, letting his tongue enter and gently massage the roof of her mouth. Her arms snaked their way around his neck and he wrapped his own around the small of her back. She pressed herself against his body, desperately clinging to him and deepening the kiss. Every inch of skin on his body tingled with the sensations she brought him and his heart swelled at the thought of her fears.

Eventually Jess pulled away and stared deeply in Rory's eyes. "Rory, I promise I will come back. When this war is finally over, I will find you. I will find you and we'll get married. And I'll show you all around the world. And we'll move into a nice white home with a lawn and a dog and we'll start a family. And you can write! We can both write. We'll be writers together and we'll sell millions of books and we'll go on trips to Paris and London every year. We'll be together when this is over."

Rory smiled through her tears. "Oh, Jess…"

"Do you believe me?"

She cried even harder. "How can we be together when the world wants us apart?"

He gripped her hands tightly in his. "You love me. I love you. What else matters? The world can go fuck itself for all I care. You are the most important thing to me. I'm not letting you go."

"Do you really love me?"

"I loved you the moment you pulled the bullet out. You took away my physical pain and my emotional pain. You stayed up at night to read to me, you talked to me. You treated me more than just another numbered soldier. How could I not love you?"

She kissed him again, and this time it was a much fiercer exchange. It was desperate and fiery, sending shoots of electricity through their veins.

"I swear to you, Rory," he declared when they finally broke apart. "I love you. And when this is over, I'll make you my wife."

Rory finally smiled. "Good. Because if you don't, I'll hunt you down and kill you myself."

Unbeknownst to the two of them, a shocked and stricken Beatrice had seen the entire exchange through the tiny hospital window.

**A/N - Ack! I know that this update is so long overdue it's ridiculous. The only excuse I can offer you is that school is ridiculous as well. But I do hope I made this update worth the wait. This might be my favorite chapter, just FYI.**

**The story's reaching the middle, I think. We're getting to the real heart of it all and if I had to guesstimate, I'd say five to six chapters are left. Don't stake your life on that, though--it's just a hunch and my hunches (when it comes to remaining chapters) tend to be wildly off.**

**Don't forget to review!**


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